Patients with end-stage kidney failure require either dialysis or kidney transplantation for survival. When successful, kidney transplantation is the most ideal form of treatment since it restores continuous kidney function and returns patients to normal or near-normal life. However, the major problems in transplantation are the increasing shortage of donor kidneys relative to the expanding number of patient's with end-stage kidney failure, and the deterioration of the function of the kidney transplant from causes including rejection, chronic allograft dysfunction (CAD) and the recurrence of the original kidney disease in the transplanted kidney. There is also the life-long requirement for multiple medications with toxic side effects.
Most patients are placed on dialysis, with about 90% being treated by hemodialysis (HD) in the United States. This requires the circulation of a large amount of blood outside the patient's body, through a sealed compartment constructed of artificial membrane (the dialyzer, also known as the artificial kidney) and back into the patient. Fresh dialysate generated by a machine is pumped through the other side of the compartment extracting water-soluble metabolic wastes and excess fluid from the blood across the artificial membrane. The used dialysate exiting the dialyzer is discarded as waste. Patients are treated for three to four hours, two or three times a week, mostly in special treatment centers, staffed with nurses and technicians supervised by physicians. The channeling of large amount of blood out of the body (extracorporeal circulation) requires rigorous monitoring and optimal anticoagulation. The production of dialysate for each treatment requires about 90 gallons (340 liters) of water to prepare 30 gallons (120 liters) of dialysate and a machine with an average weight of about 200 lb. (91 kg.). Because metabolic wastes and water are accumulated for 2-3 days between dialysis and are then rapidly removed within 3-4 hours, most patients feel sick after each treatment and may require hours to days to recover. Unfortunately, by then the next treatment is due.
About 10% of dialysis patients are treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD). In PD, fresh dialysate (usually 2 liters) is introduced into the abdominal (peritoneal) cavity of the patient, which is lined by the peritoneal membrane. Water-soluble metabolic wastes and excess fluid in the blood circulating on the other side of the peritoneal membrane move into the dialysate by diffusion and convection. After a period of time, the spent dialysate is drained and discarded. Fresh dialysate is delivered into the peritoneal cavity to begin a new treatment cycle. Patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) make 3-4 such exchanges every day during waking hours, and one additional nightly treatment cycle, which lasts 8-12 hours, while the patient sleeps. An increasing number of patients now undergo nocturnal dialysis using an automatic peritoneal cycler to carry out dialysate exchanges. Typically, 10 to 20 liters of dialysate are used for 5-10 exchanges (2-liters per exchange) through hours of sleep at night. The high cost of the dialysate almost always results in suboptimal dialysis, especially in patients in whom the residual kidney function is completely lost. Another drawback of the current PD is that significant amount of blood proteins leak across the peritoneal membrane into the dialysate and are discarded with the spent peritoneal dialysate (SPD).
Indeed, many of the problems and limitations of the prior art of peritoneal dialysis systems stem from the fact that the ability to regenerate the SPD is either non-existent or, if present, are subject to limitations. Examples of such problems and limitations include:                1) The dialysate usage is limited to about 10 to 20 liters of fresh dialysate per day, primarily due to the high cost of fresh dialysate. This, in turn, limits the amount of toxins that can be removed from the patient;        2) The proteins in the SPD are discarded with the SPD, resulting in a state of continuous protein-loss in patients already protein-malnourished from end-stage kidney failure;        3) Two or more connections are made to the dialysis system, in addition to the catheter; increasing the risk of peritonitis.        4) The sodium concentration is fixed by the sodium level in the fresh commercial dialysate, and cannot be easily adjusted once treatment is started;        5) Commercial peritoneal dialysate contains lactate and has a pH of about 5.5, both of which can cause irritation and possible damage to the peritoneal membrane;        6) Commercial peritoneal dialysate contains glucose degradation products formed during sterilization by autoclaving. Additional degradation products are formed during storage of the dialysate prior to its use. These degradation products can also cause damage to the peritoneal membrane. Further, there are only three different glucose concentrations in the currently available dialysates, and the need for a change in glucose concentration requires a change to a new batch of dialysate containing a glucose concentration approximating that needed;        7) With present peritoneal dialysis equipment, beneficial agents, such as nutrients, hormones, antibiotics, and other therapeutic and health-enhancing agents cannot be readily infused;        8) The prior art systems that employ sorbent SPD regeneration contain a urease layer in which the urease can be displaced by protein in the SPD;        9) The prior art systems do not regulate sodium concentrations in the dialysate at levels prescribed by physicians in individual patients. The pH of the dialysate in the prior art systems is generally not regulated.        10) The prior art systems that employ sorbent SPD regeneration to remove urea by using urease and a cation exchanger (such as zirconium phosphate), generate considerable amounts of carbon dioxide, but provide no means to remove this gas or other gases in a fluid-leak proof manner, while at the same time maintaining sterility in systems designed to function under different conditions, e.g., in a wearable system; and        11) The prior art sorbent SPD regeneration systems generate ammonium ions, which appear in the effluent of the sorbent assembly when the zirconium phosphate layer is exhausted. Such systems typically have no provision for continuously monitoring the effluent for ammonium ions, and they therefore cannot set off an audible, visual, vibratory or other form of alarm and/or turn off the system in response to this condition.        
Regeneration and re-use of dialysis fluids has been contemplated. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,190 to Kraus et al (July 1982) teaches a re-circulating peritoneal dialysis system, as does U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,684 to Roberts and Lee (June 1999), and a 1999 article, Roberts, M., A Proposed Peritoneal-Based Wearable Artificial Kidney, Home Hemodial Int, Vol. 3, 65-67, 1999. These and all other referenced extrinsic materials are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Despite contemplating regeneration, reconstitution and re-use of dialysis fluids, the prior art does not describe especially practical ways of accomplishing that goal. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,190,for example, does not use a sorbent cartridge, and therefore is much less effective than modern, sorbent based systems. The Roberts article and patent do contemplate use of a sorbent, but contemplated overly complicated devices that required separate processing and then recombining of protein containing and protein free (ultrafiltrate) streams. In addition, none of the prior art teaches a unit that could practically be worn by a user, and that included the numerous improvements described herein. For example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,684:                1) A single peritoneal catheter is used for infusing and removal of dialysate from the patient's peritoneal cavity.        2) The dialysate flow rate through the peritoneal cavity is limited to 2 to 3 liters per hour, and the dwell volume in the peritoneal cavity is limited to a volume of about 250 to 1,000 ml.        3) The regenerating system is housed in a single assembly having multiple contiguous compartments containing urease and sorbents, such as zirconium phosphate, zirconium oxide and activated carbon/charcoal.        4) The urease in the regenerating system is not immobilized and can be displaced by proteins in the spent peritoneal dialysate (SPD), thus requiring that the SPD be separated into an ultrafiltrate and a protein fraction for purposes of regeneration and to thereafter be re-united prior to their recycling back into the patient's peritoneal cavity.        5) In the urease/zirconium ion exchange sorbent regeneration system, the sodium concentration increases, and the hydrogen concentration decreases in the regenerated dialysate with time as regeneration progresses, thereby developing progressively higher sodium and pH.        6) No provision is made for the evacuation of carbon dioxide produced during the regeneration process, particularly as the goal of the wearable kidney is to allow the patient unrestricted activity that will call for different bodily positions.        7) No provision is made for the use of dry glucose and in situ sterilization of glucose for immediate use in the regulation of ultrafiltration.        8) No provision is made for in-line monitors with “feed-back loop” regulatory options of different components of the regenerated dialysate.        9) No provision is made for the regenerated peritoneal dialysate (RPD) to be enriched with nutrients, therapeutic agents, and other beneficial agents in dry or liquid form, sterilized in situ, and administered at programmed rates and timing patterns.        10) Removal of “noxious” or undesirable proteins, e.g., paraproteins, requires the separation of the protein fraction from the SPD.        11) No provision is made for removal of middle molecule uremic toxins.        
Thus, there is still a need for improved systems that can function in multiple formats, including portable and wearable formats, in which peritoneal dialysate can be regenerated, reconstituted and re-used.